1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to a bidirectional switch, in particular to a fully controlled, four quadrant, bidirectional switch.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fully controlled bidirectional power switches may be utilized in devices such as AC-AC matrix converters to provide the converters with higher operating efficiencies as compared to conventional DC-linked AC-AC converters.
A fully controlled four quadrant bidirectional switch can be implemented, for example, using two insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) in antiparallel along with two diodes in series, or utilizing two source-connected high-voltage metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETS). However, such solutions suffer from drawbacks such as high conduction loss and may be limited to relatively low frequencies (e.g., less than 50 kHz).
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an efficient fully controlled, four quadrant bidirectional switch.